Shocking Discoveries
by AllyO2
Summary: In an attempt to divide and conquer, Klaus "helps" Elena to remember what really caused the car accident the day both of her parents died. Well, maybe it's not really a WHAT but more of a WHO. Damon/Elena. Read and review!
1. Chapter 1 Dreamland

_In the dream, Elena sat in the back seat of her parent's Ford Escape. The conversation lagged, silence enfolding the SUV. Granted, the silence could probably be blamed all on Elena. Her parents weren't being unreasonable angry, they weren't being inconsiderable. Elena had been the cause of this fight. She knew it was all her fault. But now the angry words that had spilled from her lips had been said, and she couldn't take them back._

"_Mom, Dad," she said hesitantly._

"_We'll talk about this when we get home," her father said gruffly. He flashed a disapproving glance at her in the rearview mirror. Frowning, Elena crossed her arms. Parent's were so stubborn, and she'd been about to apologize._

_Without warning, Grayson suddenly slammed on the brakes. Elena heard the solid thump of the Escape hitting something. The vehicle started spinning, having hit a patch of ice. Or, it must have been ice. There was no other reason that the Escape would have spun so wildly. Elena clutched the headrest of the seat in front of her, also managing to grab a handful of her mom's hair. The screech of Miranda further startled her husband, and for a moment he took his eyes off the road. _

_Elena was overwhelmed by the sensation of flying. The image of riding a roller coaster flashed in her mind. It was the same- the spinning, the sinking feeling in her stomach. Then…nothing. Somewhere in the background her mom screamed. The sound came in slow, drawn out motions. Something hit Elena's head, something hard and solid. Her head gave a vicious snap to the left, and then she saw stars. _

With a sharp gasp, Elena sat up in bed. _Only a dream, Elena_. The thought didn't help her any. Her heart was still racing. Beside her, Stefan slept on, undisturbed by her awakening. She needed a drink. Cautiously, she crept from under the warm blankets.

This was ridiculous. It had only been a dream, but, why? What had forced the memories to rise to the surface? Usually when she thought about something for a long time and dwelled on it, that was when she dreamt about it. With a small groan, she pushed her long hair out of her eyes, smoothing its tousled state.

The wood on the staircase was cold to her bare feet, but she padded along quietly. The Salvatore house got chilly at night. Though technically it was now Elena Gilbert's house. She grinned at the thought that she legally owned such a big house.

The kitchen was dark, the only light coming from the small lamp in the corner by the stove. Elena moved to the cupboards, trying to find a glass. Only, there were so many places they could be. Maybe she should've gotten to know _her_ house a little better. Ah, there they were- a little fancy for just a water glass, perhaps, but her throat was dry. The water was crisp and cold. Elena drank up and turned to put the glass in the sink.

Without warning, a hand shot out of the darkness, grabbing at Elena's throat. She choked, recognizing the ring that decorated the middle finger. "Damon," she gasped. "Let go."

Instantly the hand released her. "This is exactly the downfall of living in the same house with two vampires," she said, rubbing her throat with a angry glance.

"Now, an ordinary person would know better than to go creeping through a house at night. Especially when that person _knows_ there are two vampires inside."

Elena shook her head. "Goodnight, Damon." Turning, she prepared to go back up the stairs.

"Wait, wait." Damon stopped her with his words.

"What?" Not all of the sleep had left her eyes, even though only a moment ago the life had nearly been forced out of her. Her lids were heavy, and the last thing she wanted was a midnight chat with Damon.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm fine."

Something in her voice must have given away the fact that Elena wasn't really as fine as she let on to be. She tried to hide it, to brush it off, but it wasn't working as well as she had hoped. Her sleepiness must have made it harder to do.

"Seriously? You're really going to try that?"

Elena sighed. "Just a bad dream. Reliving old memories, and all that. I'm sure you've had them, too. I'll get over it. Excuse me."

In a flash, Damon was in front of her. He was shirtless, clad only in dark flannel pants. He had that serious look in his eye. Elena was reminded of his speech, made only several hours earlier. _I will always choose you, Elena._ The memory made her cringe. "With everything that's going on right now," he said, "it's best not to have you're mind focused on other things. If something is bothering you, you need to figure out what it is and get rid of it before it distracts you and makes you do something stupid because you're not thinking clearly."

"I know that." Defensiveness flared up in Elena. She continued to the staircase, but paused suddenly when she was about halfway up. She looked back at Damon, her eyes squinting up and her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Still okay?" Damon asked, puzzled by her state.

"I just…remember…"

"Remember what?" A tiny edge of concern showed in Damon's words.

Elena paused, trying to think of something. Then her brow cleared and she smiled. "Forget it. Never mind," waving a hand in dismissal, she continued up the stairs and slipped back into a warm bed.


	2. Ch 2 Something

**Alrighty, so I sorta forgot to do the classic introductory thing in the first chapter, so let me do it now. Hi! I'm having a fun time writing this story, so I hope that you will enjoy reading it. Also, reviews are always greatly adored and I hope that you will take a moment to let me know what you think. Thanks! Oh, and a big thanks also for the reviews already received.**

The morning dawned cold and clear. Elena did what she did every morning when she first opened her eyes- she touched her neck to see that her necklace was still intact. There it was, soft and cool against her skin. Everything seemed normal. Stefan opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Good morning," he said between a yawn.

"And same to you." Elena returned his greeting, but felt for some reason that this _shouldn't_ be a good morning. Something stopped it from that. Oh, yeah. The dream- or more like nightmare. Try as she might to shrug it off, she couldn't forget it. Strangely enough, the idea had crept into her mind that she needed to remember something about that dream. Something important was there. _Something, _it was the new word of the day.

Stefan always had a sixth sense about when Elena was worried or in trouble. He sensed her distress now and moved closer to her. "Is everything okay?"

Elena remembered Damon's similar question a few hours earlier. She answered the same way. "Everything's fine," she assured him with a smile. "But it's not gonna be if we don't get to school soon."

"Wait, you're seriously going to go to school this morning. After all of this? Bonnie won't be there, Jeremy probably won't be there and I…"

"You won't either?" Elena fell back onto the pillows.

"We've got to get serious about finding Klaus. And killing him."

"I know," Elena sighed. "It's just…I need something normal in my life right now."

"I understand. If you want to go to school I won't stop you, but I really don't think it's safe."

"And I really don't think that Klaus is giong to show his face there again. He probably expects that I _won't_ be going to school, especially since Bonnie is supposed to be dead. So really that's the safest place for me right now." Elena really hoped that Stefan would see her line of reasoning.

"Just make sure you stick close to Caroline, okay?"

"Deal." And, laughing, Elena shook Stefan's hand. Then she went to prepare for her day.

Andie Starr was just leaving the house as Elena came down the stairs. She was digging for her car keys, but looked up at Elena's footfalls. "Good morning Elena. Have a good day," she said with a smile.

Elena looked after her, noticing immediately the brightly colored scarf wound around her throat. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. After all the time she'd known Damon, she still couldn't get used to the thought that he actually _drank _blood from other humans. Stefan…well, Stefan had too. But it didn't quite seem as bad to her somehow- probably because he was repentant and had sworn off human blood.

"Morning, Damon," Elena said, coming into the kitchen. He was sitting on a cushioned barstool, looking the same as he had when Elena had seen him last night. His hair was touseled, he was shirtless.

"Yeah, sorry about last night. You know, the grabbing, the choking." This was strange for Damon. Usually he didn't open conversations with an apology, but Elena shrugged it off and went to find food. Now, she knew that Damon and Stefan didn't usually have a lot of it here, since they didn't actually _need_ food to survive. But she also knew that Stefan (and sometimes Damon, when he was in the friendly mood) made an effort to keep the fridge stocked since she had started living here. She was grateful for that.

She found orange juice and some Coco Puffs. Pouring the cereal into a blue ceramic bowl, she added what little milk was left in the carton. Grab a glass of juice to go along with it and she had her perfect human breakfast. Damon was enjoying a glass of what she assumed to be blood- the perfect vampire breakfast.

"And where is the boyfriend this morning?" Damon asked, getting no reply to his former speech.

"Um…in the shower, I guess."

"You mean you don't actually _know_ where he is. Have we passed the clingy honeymoon period already?" He was being overly sarcastic, he knew, but for some reason he felt more snaky than usual this morning. Maybe it was because of Andie. She hadn't been the great distraction he'd hoped. More than ever he found himself wishing that it was someone else that he was kissing, someone else who smiled at him with large brown eyes. Someone else…well, nothing, really. He _would not_ drink Elena's blood. The idea was repulsive to him, as if her blood would contaminate him somehow. And all of the other things that he wanted to do with Elena he didn't do with Andie.

Elena wasn't about sex. No, he wanted to talk with her, to laugh, to dance and to know that no one else could come and take her away. No one else would be able to claim her as theirs. She would be his. Only, she wasn't. Stefan would always be there to take her to _his_ bedroom and close the door. He could say "Elena, dance with me." She told him her problems and not Damon. So, no, Damon wasn't in a great mood. Covering it up with sarcasm was the only way to deal with it. He had to be the bad guy now, and bad guys didn't let others see past their masks of "I'm fine."

"Damon?" Elena asked. "Damon?"

"Yes, yes." Damon waved a hand as if, yes, he had heard the last three minutes of conversation she'd been trying to make. Oops.

"Well, don't you then?"

"Uh…sure?"

Elena wrinkled her nose at him. "Friends listen when other friends are talking," she admonished.

"I'll listen _this_ time," Damon vowed.

"I was just saying that I saw Andie this morning on her way out. That is a very nice scarf she was wearing." Elena shot him a knowing look, mixed with disapproval.

"Eh, don't do your righteous act. I need to keep my strength up. You know, for when the fighting and killing starts."

Elena knew he spoke of Klaus. Klaus had been biding his time. Still, it was inevitable that soon the peace would end. Soon, they would have a battle on their hands and only one way to fight it. A feeling of remorse and apprehension churned in her stomach when she thought of what she had done. Elijah was out there somewhere. She'd brought him back to life and took him out of the house. He'd agreed to go elsewhere, to clean up and regain his strength before reappearing to the Salvatore brothers. So far, Stefan and Damon hadn't noticed the absence of the body downstairs. She hoped they wouldn't for a while yet.

"I just thought that was over. I thought that you no longer had any sorrows to drown in the blood of human women that you take advantage of." Okay, it had come out sounding harsher than she had intended, but she couldn't take it back now. The words hung heavily in the air.

Damon just looked at her and shrugged, downing the rest of his drink. Elena again felt a memory tug at her. Though she tried to stop it, her eyes automatically squinted, trying to remember. There was something there. Damon, he was in it. Something about Damon. She should hate him, she knew that much. But that didn't really help her any. It just made the whole thing more confusing.

"You're doing that creepy thing again," Damon pointed out.

Instantly, Elena blinked, trying to act as everything were normal. "I'm not creepy in the least," she flung at him. And, finishing her orange juice and putting her dishes into the sink, she grabbed her backpack and left. "Tell Stefan I said bye," she called back to him.

She had just opened the door to her car when she froze. _Without warning, Grayson suddenly slammed on the brakes. Elena heard the solid thump of the Escape hitting something. __**Elena looked back. A man. They had hit a man. She saw his crumpled shape in the road behind them, not moving. **__The vehicle hit a patch of ice and started to spin._

**I'll try to get another chapter up soon, if the reviews stay positive. I'm thinking one a day, maybe. Just make sure to let me know how it's going. And please, be nice. Many thanks!**


	3. Ch 3 The Memory

"_I remember…"_ The words had Damon racking his brain all morning. What had she remembered, or thought she remembered? Why was she remembering? You know how you do something wrong and then there's the possibility of someone else finding out? You know that slow feeling of worry and guilt that pricks at you? Well, Damon felt that now. More than ever, he felt human. Only he wasn't.

She hadn't been wearing vervain, unless she'd been ingesting it. But no, she would have surely confronted him before this. She wouldn't just be remembering what it was he had compelled from her mind. So no, that couldn't be it. So what could it be?

"Where'd Elena go?" asked Stefan.

"She left." Seeing the puzzled look on his brother's face, he couldn't resist crooning, "Aww, you didn't get to say goodbye?" Then he returned his voice to his normal, even tone. "Well, get over it, Stefan, you'll see her again in six hours."

The front door swung open with a bang. "Stefan?" Elena called out.

"Or, sooner," Damon added. Stefan was already gone.

"What, Elena, what's wrong?" he asked Elena gently, cupping her chin in his hands.

Damon had followed, but was lingering in the background, not wanting to disturb. Which was crazy, because that was really the only thing he excelled in.

"I remembered! When I…when the car went of the bridge, we hit a man. I didn't see it before, but now, now I saw it all! And the man, he looked…" Elena's voice trailed off and she looked at Damon. Anger, grief, and hopelessness were all trapped in her gaze. "Damon," she uttered. A million tiny teardrops all seemed to shed from her eyes at once.

"Damon?" Stefan asked. For a second his brow furrowed in confusion, but then it suddenly cleared, understanding dawning on his features.

"You thought you saw her first, didn't you, brother?" Damon asked. It was a stupid line, much like something he would have said _before_. Before Elena had molded him into 'the better man.' Still, he couldn't help it. He had told Stefan that he would be the bad guy, so he figured he would be the bad guy. Even though when he had said that, he hadn't expected any of this to come up.

Stefan had him by the throat before he knew what hit him. All Damon could do was return the hold, both of them squeezing the life out of each other. Or was it death, since neither were technically _alive. _"You, Damon?" Stefan was asking. "You caused the accident? _You did this._" he hissed. Somehow, probably from all the anger burning inside of him, Stefan had managed to free himself from Damon's hold.

"Stop," Elena suddenly recovered herself and rushed to where the brothers stood. "Stefan, let him go," she sighed. "This isn't helping." Her face held an expression even worse than the one she had worn after Damon had killed Jeremy. It was horrifying- more than hate marked her features. Death. Death for Damon.

But she wouldn't kill him, she realized. She _couldn't_. No, she couldn't remove Damon from her life. Wherever she went, there he was, saving her. Protecting her even though she didn't want his protection. Pulling her out of a wrecked vehicle. Keeping her from turning herself over to Elijah. Killing Elijah for her. If only he weren't so valiant.

"I need a moment," she said simply, and turning, she made for the staircase.

Stefan didn't really know what to say. Part of him knew that the Damon who had caused the accident was the old Damon, the new Damon would never do something like that. Or would he? The other part just needed to get away. He wanted to kill his brother for causing all of the hurt from the accident to resurface in Elena's life. She didn't need that now. Not with all of the other problems she had faced.

"I can't do this anymore, Damon," Stefan said. "No matter how hard you might try, you always mess up. You ruin everything you touch." Stefan hoped that the words contained all the feelings that were running through him at that moment. He really hoped the words had hurt.

Damon got his classical stunned expression, but backed off. "I think you should get out of here, Stefan," he said. "I don't think you know how easily I can return to the bad one. I'm still stronger than you, thanks to your measly animal diet. _I could crush you_."

Stefan sensed the finality in his words. No way did he want to leave Elena and Damon in the house together. It was too dangerous for both of them. Still, he knew that Damon wasn't just making blank threats. He was being serious. Stefan needed to get out of the house now, before Damon did something else to make Elena hate him.

Elena sat on a bed. She wasn't in Stefan's room, and she certainly wasn't in Damon's. No, this was just a remote room, somewhere in a big boarding house. She couldn't cry. The few tears she had shed earlier hadn't been for herself, they had been for her parents, whose lives had ended so early. For her brother, who had lost his mom and dad and hadn't been able to cope. Elena had made herself get through it; he hadn't been able to. Now, her tear ducts were dry. She was too stunned to think of anything. Once she had hated Damon for killing Jeremy. Did she have a right to hate him now? Damon had changed since the accident. She was sure he wouldn't do something like that now.

Then there was the question of why she had remembered all of this. It was as if someone had decided she needed to know, so they had shoved the thought into her brain. Though she knew that was possible for vampires to do, she knew that her vervain protected her from those manipulations.

The sound of a door creaking open disturbed her. She knew it was Damon without looking. Though in finding her he must have made a stop by his room to get dressed, because now he wore denim jeans and a pinstriped grey shirt. She smelled his cologne and knew that he had purposefully come to find her.

"This used to be Zack's room," he said. "I killed him, too," Damon looked her right in the eye.

Elena stood up. "Did you see me?" she asked, a question rising into her mind. "Did you think I was her?"

Damon nodded. "But that wasn't why I caused the accident. It wasn't entirely just for dinner, either. I knew Stefan was here in Mystic Falls, and I wanted to let him know that I was, too."

"It was all just to play with Stefan? That's why you killed my family?" Elena advanced towards him. She knew that she couldn't physically hurt him, but oh, how she wanted to try.

"All I can say, Elena, is that if I knew then what I do now, it woulda happened differently."

Elena knew that, but it didn't change anything. "What did you think when you saw me?"

Damon thought, closing his eyes. "I thought you were Katherine, but I didn't know why you were in a car with what looked to be a family. I didn't go to get you out of the water, because I assumed you could save yourself. I mean, you weren't going to die. But then I saw the news, and it said that Elena Gilbert had survived the car accident."

"And I was in a hospital. Katherine would have healed quickly," Elena reminded him.

"I know. So, I knew that Katherine was still in the tomb. Or, so I thought," Damon smiled grimly.

"You robbed both my brother and me of our parents," Elena said. "How many other kids have you done that too?" It wasn't really a question, just a thought she put out there to think about.

Damon saw her eyes fill, and desperately wanted to hold her. She'd comforted him in all his grief, but it was so hard to put himself out there. He should let Stefan do the comforting. But no, this was his problem. He had been the idiot to cause all of this. No matter how much he loved her, he always ended up hurting her.

Elena stiffened the instant Damon's arms went round her. "No, Damon, don't," she said, backing away, trying to pull out of his embrace. She moved to the window.

"Why?" Damon wanted to know. He was offended. He had done it- he'd put himself out there and she'd rejected his offer of comfort. It stung. Such a hard thing to do, but he'd done it and met with failure.

"Why?" Elena gasped out. "Because you killed my mom and dad!"

"Okay, lets get one thing straight," Damon said between clenched teeth. "I didn't _kill_ anyone. But, yes, I caused the accident that did. I freely admit it- I'm the bad guy. The one who will never be Stefan. But I _never said that I would be._"

"You always let me down, Damon," Elena flung at him. "Just when I think that there's nothing else you can do to ruin things, there's always something else." Elena knew she wasn't being fair, that she was being a total idiot and that she was might very well be destroying her friendship with Damon. "You are apparently taking advantage of Andie, something else that's been bugging me. You haven't changed at all." Once her lips started moving, a huge flood came out that she couldn't stop.

Elena didn't know where the thing about Andie came from. It actually hadn't bugged her that much; Damon's life wasn't her business. But as she said the words, she was surprised to feel a tiny prick of something. Jealousy? She didn't think so. She wasn't going to be jealous of the fact that Damon was drinking some other woman's blood. Still…

"…so you need to stop pushing any efforts I make to show some _feeling_ aside. I'm making the effort. You could at least appreciate it!" Damon turned on his heel and left the room.

Elena had missed Damon's speech. "Wait, Damon!" she called, moving to follow after him. Unfortunately, he had the advantage of speed and she didn't. Why did she always have to drive him away. The house was empty and eerily quiet.

The ring of a doorbell startled her, and she hurried to open it, wondering who would be visiting the Salvatore brothers. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw who stood there.

"Hello again, Elena." Elijah gave a slow smile, showing his teeth just barely. "Are Damon and Stefan in, do you know?"

**I apologize if the chapters are a bit short, they seem really long when I'm writing them lol. A great thanks to my readers for the wonderful reviews. If any of the scenes above seem a bit corny, please accept my apologies. Tried to write it like it would happen, but not sure if I succeeded. It'll be better in the future!**


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